Belvidere, Genoa take Amtrak fight to Department of Transportation

Thursday

Feb 25, 2010 at 12:01 AMFeb 25, 2010 at 3:42 AM

ROCKFORD — Track improvements to restore Amtrak service are expected to begin later this year. But which track? The goal is “local consensus,” Illinois Department of Transportation spokeswoman Marisa Kollias said, even though leaders from Belvidere and Genoa won’t budge.

Thomas V. Bona

ROCKFORD — Track improvements to restore Amtrak service are expected to begin later this year. But which track?

The debate over whether the route from Chicago to Rockford should go through Genoa or Belvidere began earlier this year, after the Rock River Valley lost out on federal stimulus funds tied to the Genoa route.

But they have yet to say publicly how they’ll decide which route will be funded now by the state capital plan.

The goal is “local consensus,” Illinois Department of Transportation spokeswoman Marisa Kollias said in an e-mail, even though leaders from Belvidere and Genoa won’t budge.

A group of local leaders and state representatives from Winnebago and Boone counties are sending a letter to Springfield next week backing the Belvidere route.

In conversations with state officials, Rep. Dave Winters, R-Shirland, said he believes it will be close enough to “local consensus” to sway IDOT.

“IDOT has told me they need a letter from area leaders ... in their files saying that the Rockford community and the area to the east (are) in favor of that route,” he said.

Even Sen. Brad Burzynski, who represents both Belvidere and Genoa, supports the Belvidere route. Like other local leaders, he said it’ll serve a larger population and eventually help bring commuter rail to Rockford on the same track.

But Genoa is undeterred. City Administrator Joe Misurelli stands by the 2007 Amtrak study that says the Genoa route would be faster, cheaper and would draw more passengers because of its speed.

“Obviously, we feel that if it was the best route for federal funding, that shouldn’t change with state funding. It shouldn’t make a difference where the funding is coming from,” he said.
“Higher ridership drives down the state’s subsidy, and we all know the state’s (situation) with operating dollars.”

In the 2007 study, Amtrak said the Belvidere route could reach a higher top speed in places, but had too many spots of low speed to compete with the Genoa route.

But a lot’s changed since that study was completed, said Steve Ernst, executive director of the Rockford Metropolitan Agency for Planning.

For one thing, the Amtrak study was predicting speeds of no more than 60 mph on the Genoa route and up to 70 mph on the Belvidere route.

The $60 million state plan should be able to attain speeds of 79 mph, Ernst said. He believes it’ll be easier to get the Belvidere route up to the higher speed limit than the Genoa route because of freight traffic, track alignment and the existing condition of the Metra tracks in Chicagoland. Also, the Belvidere route would use the less-congested north side of Union Station in Chicago.

Also, the Amtrak study left no money for contingencies in the Genoa route because it knew in 2007 what it would cost to upgrade the Canadian National Railway tracks. But CN’s traffic patterns have changed since then, Ernst said, and its requirements may have too.

The good news is that, to this point, the route debate hasn’t delayed the project. Money to upgrade tracks wasn’t available until the state’s capital plan was passed last year and bonds were issued in recent months.

But local leaders say IDOT needs to move forward soon on its decision so the upgrades can be done in time to start service in 2012.

“Everything is still being evaluated,” IDOT’s Kollias said in an e-mail.